This is a work of fiction, using characters from the film, “Proof of Life”.  No insult or invasion of privacy or infringement of copyright is intended. The story is for readers over the age of 18 only, and contains adult language. The writer is not responsible for any "discomfort" caused to the reader by this language and these situations.

Full Length Of The River

©2008 by: Darrin

Chapter Seventeen

It was almost sunrise when Terry woke up to Stephanie letting out a little whimpering cry as if she was in pain.  He sat up hurriedly, pulling her onto her back and caressing her cheeks until she woke up.

“What’s the matter, luv?” he asked gently, when her eyes opened and focused on him.  What he was most worried of was that he’d hurt her the night before.  He didn’t know how long he would have to be concerned about forgetting himself with her; it was most difficult because she wanted it, asked for it with her body against his and he allowed himself to get caught up in the moment.  That her hands were gathered against her womb didn’t set his mind at ease.

But when she blushed deeply and wouldn’t answer him, he actually smiled.  He kissed her forehead and told her not to worry, Doctor Terry would fix her right up.  He fetched the one package they hadn’t had to open since they’d arrived home and after getting her up and into the bathroom, he gave her the pills Bass had prescribed and then with another kiss went to make some of Maggie’s herbal tea.  Stephanie joined him a little while later, looking pale and sweet in her pajamas.

“There’s my beautiful sheila,” he said with a grin and then a kiss to her mouth.

“Don’t feel very beautiful,” she replied softly.

Terry chuckled and kissed her again, handing her a cup of tea.  He fetched his laptop and they went back to bed and sat cuddled up as she sipped her tea.  Terry couldn’t think of any other way to spend a morning, well, maybe one way, but this was just as pleasurable.  Steph finished her tea and was dozing a little against Terry’s shoulder while he read through some work documents, when he heard Maggie arrive.

“Maggie’s here, luv.  You want to try getting up, have some brekkie?  Food will make you feel lots better and it’s French Toast Friday, remember?”

Steph nodded and they made their way to the kitchen.  After greeting Maggie, Terry left Steph in her care while he went to shower and dress for the day.  When he came back out, Maggie was fussing over Steph like a mama hen and Steph was eating up the attention, even smiling.  He really did need to give Maggie a huge raise, he thought, watching the quiet scene of Maggie and Steph whispering together conspiratorially, probably sharing war stories of being women.

And then the quiet was broken as Dino came bursting into the flat, tossing his duffle into a corner near the door and declaring that breakfast could commence, he had arrived.

Stephanie took one look at the duffle bag and turned to Dino, then Terry.  “Where are you going?  Where’s he going, T?”  There was a sudden panicked look on her face and she stood up and faced Dino, repeating, “Where are you going?”

Dino and Terry exchanged looks and Terry shrugged.  He wouldn’t lie to Stephanie and she’d asked point blank so he nodded to Dino.

“Goin’ to California for a coupla days, princess.”

“Why?  Why do you need to go there?  What are you going to do?  What’s he going to do, T?”  Her voice was becoming as panicked as the look on her face and Terry quickly went to her and held her in his arms.

“Shh, babygirl, Dino’ll be okay.  He’s just got some business to attend to, he’ll be back before you know it.”

“Yeah, princess, don’t you worry, I’ll be back in a couple days, three tops.”

Stephanie shook her head and looked up at Terry pleadingly.  “Don’t let him go, he needs to stay here!”

“What’s all this then, sweetheart?  You don’t have to worry, Dino always takes good care of himself, don’t ya, mate?”

“You know it!  C’mon, Steph, you’ve got the old man all worried now, that’s not good for either of you.  Let’s have some of Maggie’s french toast and you’ll feel better, okay?”

Stephanie didn’t look convinced, but let Dino lead her to the table where Maggie had everything ready.  Between the three of them they managed to get Stephanie calm and even smiling again, but Terry felt an underlying sense of dread coming off her in waves.  The only thing that made him not take it seriously was his own lack of apprehension and that his gut felt confident that Dino’s plan would be successful.

Breakfast over, Dino and Terry finalized the game plan while Maggie took Stephanie to her room and redressed her bandages.  Terry heard the shower running soon after and smiled that Maggie was keeping Stephanie distracted as well as encouraging her to dress for the day.  Not that the thought of Steph in pj’s all day hadn’t made him smile to himself despite the seriousness of the discussion with Dino.

“Okie dokie then, all the equipment checks out?  I’ll be able to monitor you blokes on the satellite feed?”

“Yeah, David ran a field test and short of the wires getting severed, you’ll get a good picture.  My Panama crew’s already there, they’ll be ready to go when I arrive.  We’ll be taking the Lear on the same route and will be at the mission LZ around six tomorrow morning New York time.”

“I’ll be set and ready to go before then.”  Terry looked at his best friend.  “Wish I was goin’ with ya, mate.”

“Me too, hermano.  But Steph’s more important right now.  You saw how she freaked just about me going.”

“You think she knows?”

“Yeah, though I don’t think she knows what she knows, but she’s scared, she knows that.  Just not why.”

“Well, David’ll have your back, same as me, Dino.”

“I know, Terry.  No worries, right?”

“Definitely not.”  The two men shook hands and then stood and turned it into a hug.  “Who dares, wins, you bastard,” Terry said softly.

“Semper Fi, asshole,” Dino replied and they laughed.

Stephanie and Maggie emerged just then and Steph flew into Dino’s arms.

“I don’t want you to go,” she said against his chest.

Dino tipped her chin up and kissed her forehead.  “I’ll be back before you know it,” he told her again and then grabbed his duffle, kissed Maggie on the cheek making her giggle and tell him, “Get on with ya now!” and then he headed out the door.

Steph fretted for awhile after Dino had left and no amount of distraction would settle her down, so Terry suited up and despite having already had brekkie said they needed to get some exercise.

“Just walking, young man,” Maggie ordered, “I’ll not clean up after you’ve made yourself sick when you know better.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Terry answered with a wink and took Stephanie’s hand, firmly leading her outside.  She resisted, but he got her outdoors all the same.

Once in the Park, she seemed better and they walked for a couple of hours, taking only a few breaks.  When they returned, they found Maggie had left them a very healthy lunch of salads and fruit with a note that brooked no junk food until the evening.  “Then you may do as you please, God preserve you!” closed the missive, making Terry laugh as he showed Stephanie.  That got him a little giggle which pleased him no end.

The afternoon dragged on, Stephanie getting more and more agitated until she finally blurted out, “He’s going to kill them, isn’t he?!  He’s going back there and he’s going to attack the camp and he won’t make it, they’re strong, they’ll fight back!”

Terry pulled her onto his lap as she snuggled close, trembling on the edge of tears.  “Shh, babygirl.  Yes, that’s where he’s going, but he has lots of help, there’s going to be seven of them all together, his crew and David’s crew.  It’ll be fine, luv.  We’re very good at what we do and we all need this.  We need to know they’ll never hurt another sheila like they hurt you and Daphne.  You want that, right?”

There was a long silence and then Stephanie nodded but started to cry anyway.  Terry was fairly certain she was being so emotional because of her monthlies but also knew better than to suggest that as a cause.  You never told a sheila that, any smart man got that within the first twenty years of his life.

“Hey, you know what?  It’s almost evening… Why don’t we go to Madison Avenue and get us a real feast and afterwards we’ll find a chocolatier and feed a need I know you must be having right now.”

Steph sniffed and wiped her hands over her cheeks as she pulled up from Terry’s chest.  “How do you know I want chocolate?”

Terry laughed out loud and cupped her cheek in his hand.  “Not a sheila I’ve met ever didn’t want choccie at least once a month,” he said with a grin.

“Oh, poo!  You boys think you know us so well, think everything can be fixed with chocolate.”

“Watch the language, young lady,” Terry said, grinning as she blushed and giggled.  “Are you telling me choccie can’t make you feel better?  We don’t have to get any then.”

Steph gasped softly and hit his chest.  “I never said that!”

That made Terry laugh again and got them both on their feet.  “Okie dokie, then.  Go get dressed and I’ll feed you until you feel better or pass out from a sugar-induced coma.  How’s that?”

“Okie dokie,” she said with a giggle and squealed as he swatted her bum and then she ran for her room.

He called for reservations then confirmed the location of the nearest sweets shoppe and got dressed himself, wondering how blokes ever impressed sheilas before the internet.

They caught a cab and headed over to a french bistro on Madison.  It was cosy and he knew Steph would enjoy all the sauces.  He wondered how he knew that, but he was right, each dish they were brought, she cooed over the sauces most.  Must be the Thorne instinct as usual, he thought cockily, knowing in the back of his mind it was more than that.  They finished with a light dessert and headed to the sweets shoppe on 10^th.  Now she was delightedly giggling, flitting from one display case to the next while the clerk filled a bag with one each of the items she pointed out.

“This is too much!” she declared when their purchase was weighed and rung up.

“No worries, luv, choccie will keep just fine, right, mate?”

“Sure will, sir.  Just keep it wrapped tightly.”

One more cab ride and they were home in time to catch a movie on telly while Steph enjoyed her chocolate.  When Terry heard her sigh happily, he noted a job well done distracting her from her concern over Dino.  The next morning would be difficult again, but he’d cross that bridge when they came to it.  He did decide he should prepare her since he didn’t want her watching over his shoulder.

So once they’d gotten ready for bed and he’d set his alarm for five the next morning, he snuggled her close to him under the covers and kissed her gently.

“Luv, I’m gonna be keepin’ an eye on Dino tomorrow morning while you’re still asleep, I want you to stay in bed, okay?  Doc said to keep your stress level down, so best follow what he says and let me worry about Dino.”

“You are worried about him?!” she immediately replied, ignoring everything else he’d said.

He smiled gently at her, cupping her cheek as he loved doing.  “No, babygirl.  It’s just an expression.  Dino is fully capable and I know he’ll be fine.  Just wanna keep an eye on things, you know?  But you don’t need to, doc’ll have my head if he knew I’d even told you about this.”

Steph stared into his eyes for a long minute and sighed resignedly.  “Okay, T.  But I’m scared for him.”

Terry kissed her forehead and smiled down at her.  “I know you are, but you don’t need to be.  Just take care of you right now, okay?  You’re who’s important.”

“Dino’s important too,” she replied, but Terry could see she’d accepted what he’d said.

“Let’s get some sleep then and don’t be scared when you wake up tomorrow morning alone.  I’m just out in the living room, okay?  I’ll have Maggie come fetch you when she arrives.  You’ve got your little bear, you’ll be fine, right?”

Steph showed him her bear and he grinned, kissed her once more and turned off the light, wrapping her up in his embrace.  Definitely the best way to fall asleep, he decided, having the sheila you love in your arms.  His last thought was for Dino’s safety before he fell asleep.

Terry’s alarm went off at five a.m. and he realized with a start that Steph had managed two nights in a row now without nightmares.  He grinned to himself and wanted to wake her and do a lot more than cuddle her, but knew that would have to wait for numerous reasons.  He made sure she had her little bear tucked under her chin as always and slid out of bed silently, making sure she was completely asleep before he left the room, pulling a polo shirt over his head, leaving his pajama bottoms on and using the guest bathroom to clean up before going to the living room to set up the laptop and start some coffee.

Once the feed was working, he plugged in the Bluetooth headset, got his coffee from the kitchen and waited for Dino to check in.  It was a one way feed, they’d done that on purpose since there’s nothing worse than an armchair quarterback on a mission.  He would be able to hear Dino but wouldn’t be able to talk to him.  He took some deep breaths, feeling as if he were right there.  Half of him was.  The soldier half.  But all of him loved Stephanie and that would win out every time.  There was absolutely no way he would ever leave her for a mission again.  Definitely retired from the field now, old son, he thought to himself with a wry grin.

He’d actually begun thinking about opening up the balcony and cracking out his emergency smokes when the monitor lit up and Dino’s mug filled the screen.

“Okay, we’re live and ready to rock and roll, mi amigos.”  He winked and then the camera angle flipped around and jiggled as Dino attached the minicam to his ear.  “The old man’s watching from the comfort of his apartment in New York, so let’s show him how real men earn their living, got it?  By the book, all the way.”

Dino’s and David’s crews waved at the camera, laughing.  Terry chuckled quietly.  Dino was gonna get a lot of digs in at his expense this mission, that much was certain.

It was morning there as well but there was a haze over the area as they got on the helo that would take them to the LZ from where they would hike in closer to the camp.  Breakfast time was always a good bet: disoriented from sleep, hungry and not ready for the day, good for the element of surprise.  From the way this place was run, he wouldn’t be surprised to find many of the assholes still in bed.

The men placed themselves in their pre-determined positions, working off the game plan they’d used when they’d ended up rescuing Stephanie.  Everyone was under strict orders to stay away from the hut if they had to go loud, Dino would be checking there personally as a final act before they left, just in case the cunts had managed to find themselves another hostage.  First step accomplished, the Downtown team moved in, headed by David.  With a swiftness that impressed Terry, the first building they entered and exited from was cleared.  David confirmed two dead.  From what intel they’d gotten, that left ten.  Uptown team moved into their first target and Terry watched trying to remain frosty but feeling the heat of adrenaline anyway as Dino dispatched his target while the rest of his crew took down two more.  They didn’t know what had hit them.

Wet work, Terry thought grimly, seeing Dino wipe his knife off on a nearby blanket.  No gun play meant success though, Terry knew.

Seven targets left.  When Dino moved out of the building his crew had cleared, Downtown team was up again.  This one didn’t go as planned and a single shot rang out.  The game was on.  Terry almost could feel Dino tense up, sheath his knife and unsling his gun off his shoulder looking for targets.  Three men poured from the last building, already firing and Dino took out one of them.  Then the camera angle spun around and the little hut Terry had rescued Stephanie from was in sight.

“That’s it, mate,” Terry whispered, “let your men take down the rest, check on the hostage situation.”

Just then Maggie entered Terry’s flat, but Terry didn’t lose his focus.  He sensed her heading back to his bedroom and hoped the mission would be all over before the two women joined him.

He saw Dino open the little door and was only half surprised to see a sheila crawl into the far corner just as Stephanie had done.  It took a few minutes to calm her down, Dino showing his compassionate side as he always did in these situations.  A few minutes later, he was dragging her from the hut and booking it to the LZ and the waiting helo.  Terry grinned as Dino looked behind him and both crews were making tracks right behind him.

A gunshot whizzed alarmingly close to the microphone and then suddenly the monitor went dark.

Stephanie shouted from the hallway entrance, “DINO!” and ran for Terry.  He took her into his arms but kept his eyes on the computer screen.  Long seconds passed.

Then he blessedly heard, “FUCK!” from his partner.  The camera showed him getting to his feet, whirling around and firing off several rounds.  The surprised gunman went down faster than Dino could finish his blistering diatribe of, “No one fucking shoots at me when I’ve just rescued the girl, you fucking bastards!”  Then the camera was whipped off his ear and there was the red-haired goblin.  “I’m okay, tell Stephanie I’m okay, just a nick, nothing serious.  Heading back to base.  We got them all, those fucks are GONE!”

The camera went dark.

Terry held his sheila as she wept against his neck.  “Shh, Steph, it’s okay, it’s over.  He did it, they’re all gone now, babygirl, all gone.”

Maggie gave him a stern look and he returned it with a sheepish one.  Truth was, he’d secretly wanted her to see, then she’d know it was real.  He needed her to know absolutely that she had nothing more to be afraid of and now with the added bonus of a rescue, she could put a very positive quality to the whole ordeal.  She’d helped stop them by staying alive and she’d helped save someone else.  It all meant something, all of it.

She could confirm that statement in her closet now.

He softly whispered that to her – “This is why you survived, luv.” – and through her tears she managed to hear him.  Her small hands bunched up his shirt as she gripped it tightly, but she nodded.  Then pushed herself back and stared deeply into his eyes.

“Dino scared me!” she finally said.

“He does that sometimes,” Terry chuckled.

“He’s very naughty!”

“Yes, he is.”

Stephanie managed a small smile and then laid back down against his body, sighing heavily.

Hours later, after Maggie made them breakfast and Terry and Stephanie had gotten showered and dressed, Terry’s computer beeped.  “That’s Dino wanting a video conference.  Come on, sweetheart, you can yell at him for scaring you.”  Stephanie giggled as Terry took her hand and led her over to the laptop.

“Hey, Terry, we workin’?”

“Yeah, ya goblin, I see your ugly mug.”

“Bastard, I’m not lookin’ to impress your sorry ass.  Stephanie there?  Hey princess,” he added as Stephanie came into frame.  “Mission accomplished, honey.”

“I know.  You were very naughty getting shot.  Are you okay?”

“Course I am, darlin’.  Ain’t nothin’ a week in the Bahamas won’t cure.  Got someone you need to meet.”  Dino turned away from the screen and then a much-worse-for-wear looking girl’s face filled the monitor.

“Hi,” she said, shaky-voiced.

Dino came into view.  “Stephanie Jasper, meet Alaina Matthews.  Alaina, this is the girl I told you about.”

“Hi, Alaina,” Stephanie said softly.

“I owe you my life,” Alaina said.

“No, that’s Dino, he saved you just like Terry saved me.”

“Yeah, he did.”  Alaina smiled, wearily, but it was there just the same.  “But if it hadn’t been for you, they’d’ve never known about this place.”

“Yeah,” Stephanie said, simply.

“You two will meet soon as we get home.  She’s a neighbour, lives in Jersey.”

Terry felt Stephanie smile before he saw it.  “We can be mates then,” she said.

Alaina nodded.  “I’d like that.”

Terry and Dino let the two women bond silently for a bit over the cybernet connection then Alaina waved and Steph waved back.  Dino winked to Terry who grinned and then they ended the call.

Stephanie turned to Terry with a smile.  “I’ve got a friend,” she whispered.

Terry cupped her cheek and grinned.  “Yes you do, luv,” he whispered back and pulled her to him for a kiss.

Chapter Eighteen